so basically if someone gets you in a choke hold - like Randy got Toney into and you cannot get out of it - then you are looking at - submission at best - or unconciouness or death in a ungoverned street fight ?

so basically if someone gets you in a choke hold - like Randy got Toney into and you cannot get out of it - then you are looking at - submission at best - or unconciouness or death in a ungoverned street fight ?

Pretty much. A big issue is that something like a triangle, arm triangle, or a rear naked choke can be relatively painless, and you don't even realize that you are going to sleep until it's too late, and the person applying the choke may not notice. That's why occasionally you will hear stories like the one last year about the 14 year old kid accidentally choking his uncle to death.

But if you know what you are doing, chokes are pretty safe and incredibly effective weapons.